State News

Feb 19, 2019

9:24PM

BJP, AIADMK seal alliance in Tamil Nadu for Lok Sabha polls

AIADMK and BJP have announced that they would face the upcoming Lok Sabha elections together as alliance partners.

The alliance was finalised on Tuesday evening following talks between Union Minister and BJP in-charge of Tamil Nadu Piyush Goel and AIADMK coordinator O Panneerselvam and joint coordinator Edappadi K Palaniswami in Chennai.

BJP will contest five seats in the state.

Later, addressing reporters along with Mr Panneerselvam, Mr Piyush Goel said his party would support the AIADMK in all 21 Assembly seats where bye-elections are to be held soon.

The announcement about the AIADMK-BJP alliance comes close on the heels of the state ruling party forging the alliance with PMK. PMK has been allotted seven constituencies and a Rajya Sabha seat that falls vacant later this year, while the BJP would contest just five seats.

BJP and PMK have a lone member each from the state in the current Lok Sabha, and the remaining 37 seats are being held by the AIADMK.

However, in the changed political scenario, the AIADMK strives to form a mega alliance. Parleys are on with actor-turned-politician Vijayakant’s DMDK.

Apart from its aim of winning in the Lok Sabha elections, the ruling party is also desperate to win as many Assembly seats as possible in the impending 21 seat bye-elections to secure its majority in the state legislature and to save the AIADMK government.